Modern society is dependent on oil and gasoline and other petroleum products. These petroleum products are normally manufactured at refineries and shipped or piped to centralized facilities, necessitating a widespread distribution network to deliver the product to the consumer. The final leg of that network most often involves the delivery of gas or oil by truck. Tanker trucks routinely deliver gasoline to gas stations and deliver gas and other products such as heating oil directly to consumers. During these deliveries, the petroleum product is transferred from the tanker truck to a storage tank at the service station or at the consumer's location.
Despite the exercise of great care during these deliveries, accidental spills of some petroleum products occur frequently. Such uncontrolled release of even small quantities of gasoline or oil into the environment can have negative environmental and financial consequences.
In the distant past, small spills were commonly just dispersed by washing the spilled product away with water, for instance from a garden hose. The spilled product would typically be washed down a storm drain or into a ditch The severe adverse environmental consequences of such dispersals have been recognized and today such practices are strictly forbidden. Spills must be contained and they must be contained quickly and cleaned-up in an environmentally safe manner.
A number of products to mitigate spills are commercially available. These include loose absorbents such as peat and clay, various types of manufactured absorbent pads and socks and various booms which confine and/or absorb spills. Service stations typically utilize these products and tanker delivery trucks often carry one or more of them.
Spills spread quickly and the ultimate effectiveness of any type of spill remediation device is directly related to the speed with which it can be deployed. Containing a spill before it reaches a storm drain, waterway, soil or ignition source is critical. A quick response to a spill is vital. Socks or booms or other absorption and containment media which are typically stored away in seldom accessed locations or out of the way places require time to locate and time to place in use rendering them only minimally effective in actual spill containment situations.
A need exists for a system for rapid deployment of spill containment and remediation devices.